In the Mahabharata, Kuru is a legendary king, the progenitor of the Kuru clan, to both the Kauravas and the Pandavas, the principal characters of the Mahabharata, belong. The Mahabharata (Devanagari: महाà¤à¤¾à¤°à¤¤, phonetically MahÄbhÄrata - see note), sometimes just called Bharata, is one of the two major ancient Sanskrit epics of India, the other being the Ramayana. ... The term Kaurava is a Sanskrit term, that means the descendants of Kuru, a legendary king who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the Mahabharata. ... In Hinduism, the Pandavas are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu. ... The Mahabharata (Devanagari: महाà¤à¤¾à¤°à¤¤, phonetically MahÄbhÄrata - see note), sometimes just called Bharata, is one of the two major ancient Sanskrit epics of India, the other being the Ramayana. ...
The Kurus in association with the Panchalas are frequently mentioned in the later Vedic literature.
Kurus are mentioned by Panini (Astadhyayi 4.1.168-75) as one of the fifteen powerful Kshatriya Janapadas of his times, with Hastinapura as its capital.
The Kurus were followers of Brahmanical way of life, and the early kingdom in all probability is the location of the codification of the Vedas and the establishment of major schools of Vedic priesthood.